Ridiculously Romantic
by Otaku Raven
Summary: The events of Justin’s prom unfolds with the focus on Brian as he comes to a realization about his relationship with Justin.
1. Le Jeune Homme

Disclaimer – None of the characters in the following story belong to me. They are the property of Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman who based their characters from the British version of the show by Russell T. Davies. No infringement is intended from this work of fiction for which I am not receiving any money. This piece of fiction is only meant for entertainment and to allow me to express my joy for this show and its characters. 

Title – Ridiculously Romantic

Rating – R (language and violence)

Spoilers – Ummmm, let's just say the entire first season, especially the finale. 

Summery – The events of Justin's prom unfolds with the focus on Brian as he comes to a realization about his relationship with Justin. 

Author's Note – Gale Harold is a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful man. No, that has nothing to do with the story and yes, I just had to say it :) 

Ridiculously Romantic 

Brian Kinney walked seemingly aimlessly through the men's apparel section of the clothing store. Lindsay, who was pushing his son in a stroller, was close behind him. 

"Oh, I think that's so adorable that he asked you," Lindsay said. "Despite the somewhat questionable difference in your ages and the fact that emotionally he's twelve years your senior." 

Brian continued his light stroll, looking for nothing in particular.

"Not going; too old."

Why had he even told Lindsay in the first place? Oh yes, it was so adorable that Justin had asked Brian to attend his prom as his date. At first Brian had thought that he teenager was making a joke. Or maybe he had heard him wrong. A few moments later he had realized the sincerity of Justin's statement and had of course refused.

"Oh so you're thirty I know it's so traumatic but it is something we all go through, if you're lucky enough to live that long," Lindsay continued. "But to carry on like it's the end of your life?"

"It is," Brian said bluntly.

Lindsay came up closer to him and placed her arm on his shoulder.

"It's the beginning. A whole new way of thinking about yourself. Feeling a whole new sense of entitlement . . . and accomplishment." 

Brian suddenly turned to face her. After a moment, a slight, knowing grin broke out on his face.

"That's from the "La Jeunesse" anti-aging commercial," he said looking closely at her face. "I wrote that fucking copy!" 

With the grin still on his face he sauntered away and left Lindsay to fully absorb her embarrassment. 

"Oh, okay, well I guess I only quote from the masters," she said as she gave a little nervous laugh and walked over to where Brian was now standing, pushing Gus along with her. "But it's the truth. I want wrinkles. I wanna have gray hair. I want Gus to make me a grandmother. I wanna grow old with Melanie."

Brian looked at her with a blank expression, his hands shoved in the pockets of his suit.

"Do you want me to puke? Right here?" he asked sarcastically. "I don't want gray hair and wrinkles. I don't want to be a grandfather. And I definitely don't want to grow old with – Melanie. Or anyone else."

Brian had paused slightly as his eyes discovered a nearby mannequin dressed sharply in a black tuxedo with a long scarf made of white satin around the plastic neck.

"What _do_ you want?"

Brian reached out and removed the scarf from the synthetic throat and ran it through his fingers.

"This," he simply stated.

"Very beautiful," Lindsay responded.

Gracefully, Brian swung the scarf behind his head and felt the softness at the nape of his neck.

"You know, maybe you're right," he admitted. "Maybe I should celebrate turning thirty."

As he spoke, Brian began to tie the fine cloth into a knot around his neck.

"Give myself something very special."

Brian turned towards Lindsay who reached up to loosen the knot that Brian had made at the base of his slender throat.

"Now you're talkin'," she said with a smile.


	2. Recalling Babylon

The two said their good-byes to one another and after Brian kissed Gus gently on the forehead Lindsay left him alone with his selection. As Brian walked up to the cash register he found that his mind wandered to Justin. The look in the young man's eyes as he'd invited him, amid the colorful maelstrom that was Babylon, was something that Brian had never seen before. It was something of a mix between adoration and desire. For a moment, Brian wanted to say "yes". However, reality soon kicked in and he sarcastically questioned Justin's sanity. 

"Just this sir?"

Brian's recollection faded away and the face of a lovely young woman came into focus. 

"Yes," Brian answered. "Just this."

The woman smiled and ran up the price.

"Would you like it gift wrapped, sir?"

Brian thought for a moment. Why the hell not?

"Sure."

She flashed his another bright smile and retrieved a white box and black ribbon from under the counter. Brian watched as her swift and delicate hands folded the scarf and placed it in the box before securing it with the ribbon. When she finished, Brian paid her in cash and, talking the box under his arm, exited the store. 


	3. Brian's Powers

As soon as Brian returned to his loft, the only thing he felt like doing was taking a shower. He placed the gift-wrapped box on his coffee table and walked into his spacious bathroom. Turning the water on, he removed his jacket, tie and shirt. His shoes, socks and pants soon followed. As the warm water caressed his body he was unable to contain a moan of pleasure. He let the warmth cleanse him, flowing through his hair and down his slender body. For a moment his mind was void of all thought. Lucid. After a long while, he shook the water from his hair and reached for a nearby towel. After drying off, Brian pulled on a nearby pair of black jeans. Walking slowly out into the main room of the loft he located a box of matches and lit the numerous candles scattered around the area. After bathing the room in the warm, golden glow of the slight flames, he went to his box atop of the dresser and removed three joints.

Brian placed them down on his table next to a few candles and retrieved a bottle of scotch and a glass before he lay down on his side adjacent to the coffee table. The small decorative box was gazing at him with its forlorn appearance. Slowly, Brian picked up one of the joints and after placing it between his lips, picked up a candle and ignited it bringing the tip of the cylinder to an amber glow. Inhaling slowly he savored the rush then reached for his scotch, pouring himself a glass and then swallowing it. He struggled to keep his mind clear but found that again his thoughts drifted.

He was a thirty-year-old-man. Three decades of his life gone. 10,950 days behind him. 262,800 unreadable hours dead, vanished, never to be brought back. He took a longer, deeper drag from the joint and looked at the small box to his right. With an almost childlike curiosity he reached for it and removed the smooth black ribbon. Upon removing the top he found the silky white mass neatly folded. Letting his hands run over it the angelic collection of fabric, he unfolded the scarf and pulled it from the box. With a look of curiosity he wrapped it loosely around his throat and used it to shield his face. The satin felt undeniably good against his recently cleaned skin and soon he found himself standing, running the softness across his belly. 

Then, upon giving himself over to abandonment and influenced by the drug running through his system, he commenced to do a dance of sorts around the loft. At times swinging the scarf in front of him and other times brining it back around his shoulders so that when he released it, it slowly circled down the length of his body in the manner of a graceful dragon. Suddenly, his eyes gazed upward and soon after Brian flung the scarf up at the rafters. When it came fluttering back down to him, he tried again. Once more the satin mass returned to him and he again struggled to seemingly relieve himself of it. When it fell into his hands for a third time he was unfazed and threw it up again. The scarf caught itself and remained suspended in the air for a few moments before it came back down to Brian who was now smiling. 

Standing on top of a nearby chair, he secured the scarf around one of the rafters before he pulled the remaining length around his neck. From his pocket he pulled a popper out and quickly snorted it into his left nostril. It had an immediate effect on him and Brian's eyes rolled into the back of his head and upon closing his lids, they began a dance of rampant movement. In a drug-induced haze his right hand found the zipper of his jeans. A few moments of mindless fumbling and he'd freed his growing erection from the tight confines of the dark denim. Never before had he experienced anything like the rush that was now assaulting him. The soft fabric suspending him slightly off the chair, his hand giving him pleasure with rhythmic precision, the drugs running through his system. He could feel himself coming closer to a great release when his clouded ears picked up the sound his door sliding open.

Through his blurry vision, he spied his best friend quickly running up to him and stepping on the chair, reaching up and struggling to loosen the beautiful noose. It wasn't until he went slamming to the floor, bringing an abrupt and painful end to his arousal, that he was able to acknowledge his friend. Lying on his stomach, he turned his head and looked at Michael lying on his back where he'd fallen after releasing him. Unable to comprehend what had just taken place, he laughed several times in disbelief. 

"Fuck you," he said to him in a bland tone.

"Fuck you!" Michael yelled back at him. 

Brian held in a gasp of pain and slightly raised his hips in order to pull his pants back up around his waist.

"Asshole!" he addressed to Michael. 

Not put off by the insult, Michael roughly questioned him.

"What the fuck where you doing?"

"What the fuck are _you_ doing?" Brian responded sarcastically.

"I came here to see why you didn't come to my farewell party."

"What party?" Brian questioned honestly as he rose to his knees slowly.

"You know Goddamn well," Michael said loudly. "Everybody was there but you."

"Oh right, David and Michael's farewell in flannel."

Brian pulled himself to his feet and zipped and buttoned his jeans.

"Well I was having a little celebration of my own in honor of my big 3-0," Brian added.

"With this?" Michael questioned holding up the scarf like some disgusting beast.

"Yeah," Brian responded. "Giving myself a very special gift."

"Like what?" Michael asked as Brian grabbed the scarf from him.

"Like the greatest fucking orgasm of my life," he answered loudly pulling the scarf tight around his shoulders.

"Try the last fucking orgasm of your life you could kill yourself!" Michael protested, yanking the scarf away from him again.

"Well that wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen," Brian explained in a voice that scared Michael in its seriousness as he regained possession of the scarf. "To go out in a blaze of glory like Cobain, James Dean, Hendrix – they're all legends – they'll always be young and they'll always be beautiful."

"And they'll always be dead," Michael said in a stern voice.

"Life not worth living if you not take risk," Brian responded with a brief smile. 

Michael shook his head.

"You're not going through with it."

"If I wanna experience the joys of scarfing," Brian began. "What the hell business is it of yours?"

"It's my business 'cause I'm the one who'll get the call that the Goddamn cleaning lady's found you hanging from the rafters with a fuckin' boner!"

Brian laughed again and drew Michael towards him to rest their foreheads together.

"Fuck you, Michael, Fuck you. Why do you always have to ruin everything?"

"Ruin?" Michael questioned. "I'm saving you! Just like Toby Harper saved Captain Astro in issue 231 of Astro comics when Captain Astro thought that he'd lost all of his superpower."

Brian rolled his eyes and sighed.

"God, you are so pathetic," he said.

"No, YOU ARE!" Michael spat back. "Don't you know that you still have your powers, all your powers, and you always will. Whether you're eighteen or you're thirty or you're fifty or you're a hundred! You will always be young and you will always be beautiful. You're Brian Kinney for fuck's sake!"

Michael frantically grabbed the side of his friend's face in his hands and pulled his lips to his. He pulled back only to take a breath and then connected their mouths again. When he pulled away for the second time he wrapped his arms tightly around him and felt the weight of Brian's head on his shoulder.


	4. Comtemplation and Decision

.

Once he was convinced that Brian was not going to attempt his stunt again, Michael left him to return to the home that he and David shared. There was a lot of thinking that he had to do. Lounging on his back on the sofa, Brian continued to run the scarf through his hands. The drugs had eased off a little and his mind was clearer. He was almost annoyed when he began to think of Justin again. It was truly preposterous, absurd, insane, to ponder on it. He couldn't go for God's sake. He was a thirty-year-old-man. Still, there was something in him that would not let this matter rest. Perhaps he should go. What was the worst that could happen, they'd throw him out? And although he would not admit it to himself, there was a secret part of Brian Kinney that wanted only to see the reaction on Justin's face when he strolled in. 

With that, it was decided. 

Brian stood and went to his closet. He selected a black dress shirt, leaving the top buttons undone to expose the skin of his chest, a black jacket with a deep purple lapel and matching dress pants and shoes. Running a finger through his hair he inspected the finished product in the mirror. Upon gaining approval, he headed towards the door but abruptly stopped. Walking back, he picked the white scarf up from the place he'd flung it, swung it around his shoulders, and headed out to his jeep.


	5. Heaven within Purgatory

As soon as his feet stepped onto the smooth dance floor all that Brian could think what "What the fuck am I doing here?". Everywhere he looked there were teenagers dancing amid colorful balloons and music. His eyes scanned for Justin and as he glimpsed him dancing with Daphne he walked directly towards him, seeing no one else. It was at that moment that Daphne spied him and motioned for Justin to glance in his direction. Justin's face went blank with shock as Brian continued towards the pair and was soon standing right before them. Justin was dressed in a traditional black tuxedo with a white shirt and black bow tie with his hair gelled. Brian mentally made a note of how adorable he looked. Unable to form any other words, Justin threw a sarcastic comment at the older man.

"I thought you said you wouldn't be caught dead in a room full of eighteen-year-olds."

"I thought I'd recapture my lost youth," Brian answered, running his fingers up the lapel of Justin's jacket so that the meaning of his words were perfectly clear. At this point, Brian turned to Daphne who had shyly looked away.

"You look hot Daphne," he said as he placed a kiss on her temple. "I'd fuck you."

Instantly flustered, she nervously laughed.

"You-you too, Brian," she responded.

"Mind if I borrow your date?" Brian asked turning back to Justin.

Daphne hesitated for a moment before she gently touched Justin's arm and smiled before she walked away. For a moment, Justin simply stared up at Brian waiting to see what his next move was. The two exchanged a look before the older man took his hand in his and pulled him towards the stage, away from the people who gave way for the unusual couple. As if on cue, a new song began as Brian took the scarf and wrapped it slowly around Justin's neck as they began to move together.

__

You can dance

Every dance with the guy

Who gives you the eye

Let him hold you tight

Their feet moved in rhythm as Brian put one hand on around Justin's waist and clasped the other within his own, bringing their folded hands up and away from their bodies. They both smiled and laughed and Justin placed his other hand on Brian's shoulder as the older man began to lead him in a dance. They glided across the floor, which had been cleared by a circle of confused onlookers who gaped at them in disbelief. 

__

You can smile

If you smile for the man

Who held your hand

'Neath the pale moonlight 

Justin's heart was swelling. He could not believe that Brian had showed up and was now dancing with him before his mostly homophobic peers. Brian looked absolutely gorgeous and it was all Justin could do to keep from kissing every inch of his beautiful body. No signs of his previous fear were visible on Brian's face. Justin saw only joy and pride in his lover's visage. Along with what even appeared to be love.

__

But don't forget who's takin' you home

And in who's arms you're gonna be

So darlin', save the last dance for me

Justin removed his arm from Brian's shoulder and placed it behind his back as the older man raised their hands high and spun Justin around once on his heels before bringing him close again. Back and forth they moved across the smooth floor and Justin felt as if he could die right then and there. It was as if someone had liquefied euphoria and shot it into his veins.

__

Oh I know

That the music is fine

Like sparklin' wine

Go and have your fun

They looked deeper into each other's eyes as they moved even closer and alluringly pressed their hips together, slowly swaying against each other. Brian smiled and continued to lead Justin around the circle. Never, ever would he have imagined himself here. Dancing with what was supposed to be a one-night-stand. But Justin had triggered something in him from their very first encounter when the youth had appeared to him outside of Babylon. It was the teenager's beauty that attracted him, but he was his innocence that had captivated him. 

__

Laugh and sing

But while we're apart

Don't give your heart

To anyone

Justin's _naïveté _had humored him when Brian had offered Justin both his drugs and his body. Brian remembered how scared the teenager seemed, like a timid deer ready to run at the first sign of headlights. He had toyed with him until the birth of his son had postponed their game. But Justin came back to the loft with him despite Michael's protests.

__

But don't forget who's takin' you home

And in who's arms you're gonna be

So darlin', save the last dance for me

On the dance floor, Brian spun Justin around several more times and then pulled him back close against his chest. He remembered that first night, as he'd run his tongue down Justin's back, feeling a new sense of excitement. Never before had Brian been with someone so innocent. The fact that no one before had touched the boy like he was going to was intoxicating. As he'd placed Justin's legs up and over his shoulders he'd heard the trembling voice nervously asking Brian to go slow.

__

Baby, don't you know I love you so

Can you feel it when we touch

I will never, never let you go

I love you oh so much

He had done as Justin apprehensively asked. In fact, he could not recall ever going any slower or being any gentler than he had been with Justin that night. Not even with Michael on the day that Debbie had interrupted their exploration. Unlike any other trick, Brian continued to kiss Justin as they made love. He's muffled the boy's whimpers with his soothing lips. 

__

You can dance

Go and carry on

'Till the night is gone

And it's time to go

Of course when he woken up he'd been surprised and confused to find Justin's arms around him. He'd been unable to recall what had happened or even what his name was. He had seen the pain in Justin's eyes but had ignored it and showed the teenager where his shower was. As the answering machine reminded him that he was now a father he's heard Justin's yell as the hot water burned him. Regardless, he'd gone and joined him.

__

If he asks

If you're all alone

Can he take you home

You must tell him no

Justin's hands creeping up his shoulder's brought him back to the present. He'd slipped his hands into his jacket and was slowly inching it off of him. Brian leaned in slightly as Justin did, but just before their lips met, the younger man pulled back and slipped behind him. Tease. He felt Justin's nimble fingers slide the jacket completely off with a sudden jerk down Brian's arms. Grinning, Brian watched as he threw the jacket to Daphne who caught it with a beaming smile. 

__

'Cause don't forget who's takin' you home

And in who's arms you're gonna be

So darlin', save the last dance for me

Justin came into Brian's arms again and placed the scarf back around his lover's neck. As the music went into a continuous stream of violin notes, Brian brought Justin's right arm above his head and proceeded to twirl him all around the circle enclosed by spectators. Justin kept his left arm folded behind his back as he was spun repeatedly before the stunned eyes of students and teachers. His final "fuck you and farewell to St. James Academy". He was soon pulled back tight against Brian and savored the warmth and consolation of his body against his.

__

'Cause don't forget who's takin' you home

And in who's arms your gonna be

So darlin', save the last dance for me

The younger man almost went into a fit of laughter as he felt Brian's arm tighten around him as his back began to bend. Brian was grinning from ear to ear as he lowered Justin back so far that his head nearly touched the floor and he felt his leg up on his hip. Slowly and carefully Brian pulled Justin back up to him.

__

Save the last dance for me

With his arm around his back, Brian lifted Justin off his feet and swung him around in many circles with his body pressed against him for support. Before Justin's feet resumed their contact with the floor, Brian's lips were on his. As their swirling stopped the two stood on the dance floor and tasted one another. Their tongues met and danced as their feet had with the same exuberance and Justin caressed Brian's neck with his fingers. It was the most passionate kiss that the two had ever shared. 

__

Save the last dance for me

As their lips parted, they remained close together as they both gave way to brilliant smiles. Then Brian's face became passionate again and he grabbed Justin's hand, swinging him in a circle once more before he led him away. It was some time before the others in the room where able to say anything or before anyone noticed when Chris Hobbes abandoned his date. 

Save the last dance for me


	6. Tragedy

The two men were in the hallway heading towards the elevator when they heard a feminine voice call out to them. They turned to see Daphne running towards them with Brian's jacket.

"Don't forget this," she said handing it to Brian.

"Thanks darling," he responded with a smile as he slid his jacket back on.

"You guys looked so hot out there," she continued. "You dance really well."

Justin turned to Brian with a questioning look.

"Where _did_ you learn to dance like that? I don't recall seeing that kind of dancing at Babylon."

"It's a mystery," Brian said with a smile.

The two shared a look and all Justin wanted to do was throw himself at him, but he wasn't sure how that would make Daphne feel.

"I'm gonna go walk Brian out and then I'll be back okay?"

That surprised both Daphne and Brian. Brian had expected Justin to come back with him to the loft and Daphne had assumed that Justin would want to do same thing. 

"Oh, no," Daphne protested. "Go home with Brian, it's okay."

"I can't leave you here," Justin explained. "We came here together and that's how we should leave. Plus, this is going to be our last time in high school, I can't ditch halfway through."

Daphne smiled at him and Justin looked at Brian.

"You're not upset are you?"

Brian shrugged.

"Nah," he said. "It's your loss." 

Justin smiled and Brian took his hand and led him towards the elevator.

"He'll be right back then," Brian said as he pulled Justin along who gave his friend a little wave. They walked into the elevator and Daphne said good-bye to them and headed back. As soon as the elevator's doors closed, Justin flew into Brian's arms and kissed him. Brian was surprised to feel his back come into contact with the steel wall. Justin pulled back and kissed him again, more warmly this time, and then pulled back and slid his arms down until they were wrapped around Brian's waist. 

"Have I thanked you for coming yet?" Justin whispered as he re-placed the scarf around his lover.

Brian licked his lips and slowly shook his head. Justin kissed him again and smiled into his mouth until he pulled back again with a large grin on his lips.

"Thank you for coming," he said softly.

Brian smiled.

"Yeah well, what else was I gonna do?"

The elevator bell lightly sounded and the doors opened.

"Besides," Brian said. "The music wasn't half bad."

Playfully, Brian took his hand again and pulled him, laughing, out of the elevator. Their voices echoed through out the garage.

"Don't forget who's takin' you home and in who's arms you're gonna be!"

The two of them laughed as they resumed their dance positions and stumbled towards the jeep. They swung around one another and Justin could not control his smile.

"Did you see their faces?" Justin asked about his peers.

"Yeah," Brian answered. "We gave 'em a prom they'll never forget."

"Me neither," Justin laughed. "It's the best night of my life."

Justin allowed Brian to pin him against his jeep as he once again wrapped the scarf around him and pulled it tight in the front with the both of his hands.

"Even if it was ridiculously romantic," Brian added with a smile. 

The older man leaned in to kiss him but before their lips made contact, he paused. Brian waited until Justin locked eyes with him, granting him permission, before he continued forward and kissed him very delicately. When he pulled back, Brian smiled slightly and kissed him again, longer and deeper this time. Pulling back again, he kept his eyes locked on his and pulled him away from the jeep using the scarf. Brian's fingers toyed with the frayed ends of the satin.

"Later," he said.

It was a promise, not a statement. 

"Later," Justin said as well in a dreamy voice.

Justin backed away, laughing, with the biggest smile that Brian had ever seen which for the first time made him realize why Debbie called him "Sunshine". Brian opened the door to the jeep and, after one more fleeting glance at Justin, hopped into the driver's side. With a smile on his lips he glanced into the side-view mirror, watching as Justin walked away with the ends of the scarf in each one of his hands and stretched around his back. Brian felt a wondrous feeling of serenity until he viewed another figure coming up behind Justin with a baseball bat in his hand. For a moment of sheer terror, Brian was unable to react, then he flung the door to the jeep open and jumped out.

"JUSTIN!"

The sound of Brian's voice caused Justin's smile-lit face to turn just as the bat went swinging with unbelievable violence into the side of his head. Justin could not register anything other than the searing pain as he fell to the floor and almost immediately began to feel his body shutting down. Brian was running at full speed towards his lover's assailant and roughly shoved his palms into his back as he attempted to escape. Before Brian had seen his face he knew that is was Chris Hobbes.

He'd been nothing but a nightmare to Justin since the very beginning of Justin's sexual realization. Taunting him in the hallways, the locker-room which had resulted in a bloody fight, the classroom which had caused Justin to be suspended and even confronting him outside of Woody's with a group of his fiends. Justin had bravely stood up to him and now the motherfucker had smashed his head in with a bat. 

Once the bastard went crashing to the floor, the bat slipped from his grip as he let out a groan and struggled to his feet. Brian paused for a brief moment of thinking and then picked the bat up, and as the teen attempted to flee, he sent it crashing into his knees. Chris screamed in pain and cursed as he fell to the ground again. Brian wanted to beat him senseless with the bat, but instead he rushed to Justin's fallen body. He was lying on his side and Brian dropped to his knees and leaned over him, gently cradling him. The large wound of the side of his golden head was bleeding and all through Justin was breathing, he did not move one inch under Brian's careful touch. 

Leaning protectively over him, Brian could feel the panic in his throat threatening come in the surface. 

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," He frantically muttered. "God!"

Gently, Brian slipped his hand under Justin's knees and turned him over on his back and placed his head in his lap.

"Justin," Brian said. "Jesus, say something."

Upon getting no response he again felt a moment of dread before he remembered his cell phone and reached into his jacket pocket to retrieve it. With quick fingers he dialed 911 and placed the phone to his ear while he stroked Justin's hair, which was matted with blood. Quickly, Brian explained to the operator what had happened, where they were, and that they needed an ambulance now. After the operator informed him that paramedics were on their way, he hung up and put his phone away. The blood was still leaking from Justin's head and Brian pulled the youth up to hold him more closely. 

Justin's cheek was resting against his chest and the wound on his head was staining Brian's neck with the boy's blood. Tears were blurring his vision but Brian noticed that Chris Hobbes had somehow managed to crawl away, leaving Brian and his unconscious lover in the garage. Brian placed his lips on Justin's head and tasted blood as he muttered what soothing words he could, all though he wasn't sure if Justin could hear him.

After a painfully long seven minutes, the comforting sound of the siren and the bright flashing lights filled the concrete lot. The white van stopped beside the two men and three paramedics in uniform stepped from the vehicle and rushed to them. One of them immediately kneeled beside Brian who was holding Justin as he lay silent in his arms as the other two opened the back doors of the ambulance and pulled a stretcher out. After Brian once again explained what happened, they carefully pulled Justin from his embrace, lifted him, and laid him flat on his back on the thin mattress. 

Fearing shock they covered him with a thick blanket and lifted the stretcher into the van. One of the medics asked if Brian wanted to come along. Immediately, he jumped into the ambulance and took his place at Justin's side, next to the boy's bleeding head. He watched as they placed him in a neck brace and covered his beautiful face with an oxygen mask. The medics tried to speak to Brian again about what had happened, but he was barely able to respond. Instead, Brian reached forward and clasped Justin's lifeless hand in his own and looked at his face which was covered by the plastic of the mask. Brian was unconsciously waiting to feel Justin apply pressure to his grip, but he never felt anything.


	7. Love, Realized

The ride to the hospital was excruciating, full of medical conversations and recommendations about what was the best thing to do told in rushed voices, and Brian felt as if his head would explode. When they arrived at the hospital, Brian watched as they quickly opened the doors and prepared to wheel Justin out. The pillow had been stained with the boy's blood and as they took Justin away, Brian loosely gripped the scarf and pulled it to him. As Justin disappeared into the confines of the hospital as Brian followed slowly behind with the bloody scarf dangling in his right hand. Inside the sterile building, Brian trailed behind the medics until he was told he could go no further and he sank into a nearby bench. For the second time that night, he reached into his jacket and pulled out his cell phone. Mindlessly he hit the button that would connect him to his best friend. After a few rings he answered.

"Brian?"

Unable to speak, Brian continued to stare at the wall in front of him.

"Brian," came the voice again. "Brian, what's wrong?"

Finally, he was able to answer.

"Mikey," Brian said in a broken voice. "I need you."

Michael knew instantly that something was terribly wrong. 

"What's wrong?" he said in a worried voice. "Brian are you all right?"

Brian swallowed and cleared his throat.

"I need you," he repeated. "I'm at the hospital. . ."

"The hospital?!" Michael said. "Jesus, Brian, are you all right? What happened?"

"Justin was . . . attacked," Brian struggled to say. "He's unconscious, there's blood all over him . . . everywhere . . . he's unconscious."

Sensing that he was unable to continue, Michael reassured him.

"Okay, it's all right," he said. "I'm coming. I'll be right there, okay?"

Without another word, Brian hung up. Leaning his head into the wall, Brian began to think. If he had only stayed home, like he should have, none of this would have happened. What business did he have at a prom anyway? He was a thirty-year-old man for God's sake, not a fucking teenager. He had been asking for something to happen. Showing up and then dancing with Justin in front of that homophobic school. He should have stayed home and drank himself to sleep. Or he should have taken Justin home with him like he'd planned to. Never, ever, should he have let him walk back there alone. How could he have done that? God, if he had just taken him home and fucked his brains, out they'd been lying together right now instead of him sitting in a hospital hallway with Justin in the emergency room covered in blood.

Brian did not see the approaching figure as it sauntered towards him. Michael slowly took in the heartbreaking image of his friend looking shell-shocked. He came and sat down beside Brian on the bench. Michael fought back the tears as he reached for Brian and placed his hand on the nape of his neck, trying to give him some comfort. He noticed that Brian's neck was colored red, as were areas of his suit from where he had been holding his damaged paramour. Spots of blood were even on his lips from were they'd delicately touched the teen's broken head. Brian's eyes were lightly scarlet and filled with tears that had yet to fall and he suddenly recalled the last time that the three of them had all been at the hospital. He remembered them running down the hallway to see his newborn son.

The soothing pressure of Michael's hand on the back of his neck brought him back to his harsh reality. Michael wished that there was something, anything, that he could do to make this easier on Brian but nothing, aside from Justin walking out completely unharmed would alter the mood of the situation. Brian was wondering why he was there. Why was he sitting outside of the emergency room, waiting while his entire body ached? What was Justin to him that he would have this effect on him? Only Michael, Lindsay and Gus evoked this emotion in him.

It was then that he realized the power Justin had over him. As a single tear finally escaped from his body he admitted it to himself. It was love. Justin Taylor had made Brian Kinney love him.

The End


End file.
